Golden Fleece Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece Award for failing to stop the rampant theft of SNAP benefits from vulnerable families. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that states replaced more than $320 million in stolen SNAP benefits between October 2022 and December… Read more »

HHS Inspector General reports show MA plans are misusing prior authorization, a practice used to pre-approve expensive care before it is provided, at the expense of seniors. In one study, 18% of denied claims were for services that already met coverage rules or had been previously approved. The yearly cost of insurance paperwork to the U.S. economy totals $31 billion, a portion of which… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last month, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) announced the General Services Administration (GSA) as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece Award. GSA is receiving this award for its failure to efficiently dispose of unneeded federal property. Under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, GSA has the authority to dispose of surplus federal holdings, yet it has… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C.  — Rep. French Hill (AR-02) on Tuesday announced the Small Business Administration’s Office of Investment and Innovation as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece Award due to the misuse of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding by repeat recipients, commonly referred to as “SBIR mills.” The SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) announced Governor Tim Walz and his administration as the latest recipients of his Golden Fleece Award following the uncovering of massive fraud across taxpayer-funded programs in Minnesota. Federal prosecutors estimate that roughly $9 billion in taxpayer dollars was stolen through schemes involving nutrition assistance, Medicaid… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) announced Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece Award for driving the nation into the longest and most expensive government shutdown in American history. The 41-day shutdown caused an estimated $7 to $14 billion in permanent economic losses, delayed $54 billion in federal… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. French Hill (AR-02) named Amtrak as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece Award for its persistent financial mismanagement and failure to meet its mandate as a self-sustaining passenger rail company. Since its creation in 1971, Amtrak has received more than $100 billion in federal subsidies yet has never once turned a profit. In fiscal year 2024… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. French Hill (AR-02) named the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece Award for their inadequate operating practices for the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL). The VCL is the VA’s suicide prevention hotline for veterans. Unfortunately, recent reports have documented inadequate staffing, a lack of assessment… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. French Hill (AR-02) named the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) as the latest recipients of his Golden Fleece Award for their challenges in ensuring effective mental health screening for service members and veterans who are transitioning from military to civilian life. As a result of a 2018 executive order, the… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. French Hill (AR-02) named the U.S. Department of Commerce as the latest recipient of his Golden Fleece. Thanks to their bureaucratic red tape, three years after Congress appropriated over $42 billion to bring the internet to rural America, exactly zero Americans have been connected to the internet through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD)… Read more »